Insulation specialist Actis says it is seeing a rise in enquiries for its products following the latest leaps in fuel prices, driven in part by the shorter payback period in carrying out retrofit improvements.
The announcement comes as pressure is mounting on the new Prime Minister to take action on tackling the energy crisis. Two think tanks have released reports urging the government to put more emphasis on retrofitting the UK housing stock, while 100 business leaders have co-signed an open letter to the PM saying she should accelerate the net-zero transition to tackle the energy crisis.
Both reports, Tackling the UK's Energy Efficiency Problem, published by the Institute for Government (IfG), and Train local, work local, stay local: Retrofit, growth and levelling up, by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), point out that the UK's housing stock is the oldest and least energy efficient in Europe.
"If the government focuses only on short-term financial support, and long-term measures to boost supply that are unlikely to have a major impact, it will find itself in an even more difficult position in a year's time," the IfG warns.
It stresses that the UK could face an even worse energy crisis in 2023 if it does not look to improve insulation in homes and cites a 2020 study which suggested that a UK home with an indoor temperature of 20°C and an outside temperature of 0°C lost 3°C of heat on average over five hours.
It says the government's new energy price guarantee does not tackle the root cause of excess domestic energy use, and calls for more support to enable householders to insulate their homes.
The IPPR report lays out a 28-year plan to retrofit every household in England, which at its core would create 1.2 million direct jobs and 1.5 million indirect jobs, and provide a cornerstone for the levelling-up agenda, as well as reducing households' bills by an average of £430 a year.
There is currently significant regional variation in employment opportunities. A retrofitting programme, at the cost of £7 billion a year, would benefit regions such as the North East and the West Midlands more than twice as much as areas like London and the South East.
The plan would create over 61,200 new direct retrofitting jobs in the North East, equivalent to more than 5% of the total job market in the region, whereas for London retrofitting jobs would represent slightly over 2% of total employment.
Actis UK and Ireland Technical Director, Architect Thomas Wiedmer, thinks that with more than 25% of the UK's traditional housing stock more than a century old, action must be taken to stem the flow of heat leaching from these homes. Recent enquiries to its technical desk and increases in sales suggest there is greater interest in taking action to retrofit such properties - driven in part by the shorter payback period.
The new energy price guarantee, which comes into effect in October, means payback periods on insulating a roof alone are now as little as three years. A similar payback period applies to insulating just the walls or the suspended timber floors.
"It now makes more financial sense to ensure that the existing building fabric is as energy efficient as possible before spending resources on other measures. Insulation is generally among the most cost effective and long-lasting measure and a reduction in energy use is good for the environment," said Wiedmer.
Luke Murphy, Head of the Fair Transition Unit and Associate Director for the Energy, Climate, Housing and Infrastructure team at IPPR, said: "The new Prime Minister and Chancellor have said they want to focus on growth. This report shows that a national retrofit programme can deliver jobs and growth right across the country, and deliver levelling up at the same time. It would also lower energy bills, reduce energy demand and our dependence on Putin, and lessen carbon emissions.
"It's hard to think of another intervention that could deliver on so many objectives at the same time. It's time the government acted and invested to upgrade our nation's homes, making them warmer and more affordable. It's a no-brainer."
Joshua Emden, IPPR Senior Research Fellow, said: "The UK is in the middle of the worst energy bill crisis for at least 50 years. The price cap freeze shields us from absolute catastrophe but many households are already struggling with last April's increases. It is vital that the government takes steps to make us less vulnerable in future.
"Retrofitting will not just play a crucial part by cutting energy consumption, but also has the capacity to level-up the regions most in need.
"Over a million direct jobs, and more than a million more indirect jobs, would be created if the government pursued this retrofitting plan.
"Left-behind areas like former industrial centres and coastal communities would benefit the most from these jobs and the economic growth it will bring. The country would be better off, the economy would be better off, and the climate would be better off."
